Police activate emergency lights and shout out warnings on loudspeakers. The helicopter crew notices someone go outside and throw a bag over a fence into some bushes. A man carrying a small safe is told to halt and lie down with his arms and feet spread eagle. A number of people are searched and put into a SWAT team vehicle.

This is not an episode of “Cops,” but it is real, and it happened in Marysville just a few miles from the police station.

The house is owned by Rainbow Love, 54, formerly known as Vivian Ellis. Last year she and others in the home were arrested on various drug charges on Jan. 29, Feb. 25 and March 12. Police have been waiting since then to face Love in a courtroom. But a decision on charges has been delayed for months.

This case drastically shows how tough it is for police to shut down an alleged drug house, often because the court system is so far behind on cases that prosecutors only have time to focus on violent offenders.

Jan. 29, 2015

Police reports obtained through a Marysville Globe public records request say:

Officers served a search warrant at 3722 103rd St. NE with assistance from Marysville SWAT. A man exited a rear second-story bedroom sliding glass door carrying a safe, which he dropped on the back deck. Thirteen people were lying prone in the front yard, including Love.

An officer said she was under arrest for selling drugs. He also said he knows she’s a heroin user.

“She became upset that I would accuse her of such a thing and adamantly denied it,” the report says. Asked if there were any drugs inside, she replied, “Not that I’m aware of.” Asked if there were guns, she said, “I have no guns, but I’ve seen guns in my house.”

The report says, “She told me all the people at her house were people who were trying to quit heroin. She told me she was trying to help them all.”

One suspect said Love told him to toss the safe so he did. Inside was $1,460, an ounce of heroin and drug paraphernalia.

“I advised Rainbow she was going to be charged with possession of a controlled substance, and she began to freak out,” the report says.

Searching Love’s bedroom, police found: several bags of marijuana, 15 bags of white crystal meth, a bag of white powder believed to be cocaine, and a bag of mushrooms that were inside a safe.

On the kitchen table, police found a notebook used as a drug ledger containing “meticulous notes dating from November.” The price list went from $80 for a gram to $1,200 for an ounce.

In other rooms police found crystal meth, tooters and “drug paraphernalia inside the toilet that someone appeared to have attempted to flush.”

Police found other evidence thanks to a video taken from a Homeland Security helicopter. Someone had walked across the driveway and thrown a black bag into some blackberry bushes. One suspect said Love was tipped off that police were coming. Someone on their way to the home to purchase drugs saw police and called to warn Love.

Police found the bag, containing white crystal meth, heroin and $280.

“Rainbow not only dealt drugs from her house, but allowed people to use drugs throughout it,” the report says.

Another officer said police tried to alter their route to avoid being spotted. The helicopter crew was advising there was a lot of movement at the location. Police made commands from the public address system, and people started coming out of the house, some with hands in the air. More people started coming out and laid down in the front yard. All were detained and patted down for weapons.

Another officer said he put up a ladder on the deck and saw a man exiting the sliding glass door carrying a black box. He was ordered to drop the box and put his hands in the air. He dropped the box, turned around with a surprised look on his face and then ran back inside. When ordered to come back out with his hands up, he did.

K9 Katie, a 9-year-old black lab, scratched aggressively at the front passenger side door seam of a vehicle, indicating she had found narcotics there, too.

Feb. 25, 2015

Police reports say:

The Marysville police Pro-Act and SWAT teams served a narcotics search warrant at 6 a.m. after first meeting for a briefing at 3 a.m. The warrant was obtained after a controlled buy from Love.

An officer saw at least five cars come and go prior to the drug bust.

Several flash bangs went off, patrol cars pulled in with emergency lights activated and announcements were broadcast over the P.A.

Some people came out of the house and an officer ordered them to stop and cover their eyes with their hands. Two others were told to drop to their knees and crawl to the driveway.

Police received information that Love was cutting up heroin, and she placed the drugs and money into a small black bag. They found scissors on her bed with a large amount of suspected heroin on them.

In another room they found two shotguns, pills, drug paraphernalia and suspected heroin.

Love denied any wrongdoing.

“Rainbow told me she was working on getting the drug users out of her house,” an officer says in one report.

He told Love he knew she was accepting EBT cards in exchange for drugs. She denied that, saying she had just found them around the house. An officer later found that some of the cards were stolen, others lost or deactivated. All belonged to homeless people. The officer said at no time has Love been a DSHS client or received benefits so she should not possess any EBT cards.

One suspect said he had exchanged shotguns for drugs. He also said he hadn’t sold drugs for Love in two weeks. He said the flash bangs woke him up, and that he had heard Love say, “They can’t charge me with it if they find it outside.”

An officer used binoculars from a deck to search the area. Another officer used a machete to cut a path through blackberry bushes. They found a bag about 30 yards from Love’s bedroom window. Inside was $3,368, a digital scale, four bags of white crystal and two bags of a brown tar substance.

Love was booked for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver, unlawful use of a building for drug purposes and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Police asked for a high bail. The reasoning: she had been arrested on similar charges Jan. 29 and was released Jan. 31. Confidential sources had told police she had started selling drugs again immediately.

“Rainbow Love has been a nuisance to the Marysville community for several years,” the report says.

One officer said he had been involved in three search warrants at her home in the previous year. The first one he assisted Seattle police in an undercover prostitution sting. “Rainbow was running a prostitution business from her home, as well as other locations,” the report says.

The second one was Jan. 29, when she was found with 245 grams of heroin and 183 grams of meth. There were 18 people in the house.

The third time was Feb. 25, when 10 people were in the house.

“Rainbow is a major contributor to the drug problem in the community,” the report concludes.

At the Marysville jail, an officer did a strip search on the three arrested women. She asked Love what it cost her to bail out the previous month. Love told her $1,000.

“I then stated that she probably could make that amount of money in just a few hours based on the allegations of what she was charged with. At that point she got somewhat angry with me and did not want to chat anymore,” the report says.

March 12

Police reports say:

The Marysville Police NITE Team went to a “problem house in the city of Marysville.” There had been neighborhood complaints about drug activity, and they were looking for two suspects wanted in a stabbing at the residence in January. The house is a known drug/flop house, and in a previous visit a stolen handgun was recovered.

They saw a blue Honda Civic with the license plate RAINBOW. On the passenger side an officer saw a bag on the floorboard with a glass smoking device inside.

In a brown purse white crystal was found. They also found a small plastic container with black tar residue in it, a plastic bag with brown powdery substance, a digital scale and more.

Love was cited for possession with intent to sell.

Another officer said in his report: “Rainbow started freaking out. She kept screaming and charging back towards me. She was yelling, ‘Officer, I didn’t do anything.'” The officer kept telling her to get back, and she would, only to charge back at him again.

“I eventually yelled at her to stay back or I would take her to jail,” the report says.

Other arrests

Other police reports say Love previously was arrested in May of 2009, accused of running several King County brothels.

She denied the accusation, saying her “work is spiritual in nature and that’s what the men are seeking,” probable cause papers say.

Love was arrested at her Marysville home and held under investigation of promoting prostitution and money laundering.

Investigators said a tip from an ex-employee triggered a 10-month probe into Love’s three businesses – Sacred Temple in Seattle’s Eastlake, Moon Temple in Seattle’s Greenwood and Moon Temple in Kirkland. The tipster complained that she was fired after refusing her manager’s request that she masturbate clients, charging documents say.

Undercover detectives were offered and agreed to sexual acts in exchange for $150, the document says.

A female undercover detective applied for a job at 10018 Greenwood Ave. N. Love said the shop’s male clients expect to be sexually satisfied in exchange for $150, and that employees were “expected to touch every part of the customer’s body in the session,” papers say.

Love said her employees kept $100 of the fee, while $40 went to the house and the remaining $10 to the receptionist.

Love admitted some of her employees “may do more than a healing session with the clients,” the statement says. She added “what they do with the men is their business.”

She listed her annual income at roughly $300,000.

The mother of three, if convicted, could have spent up to 10 years in prison, according to the case in King County Superior Court.

On, Feb. 2, 2010, Love was charged with three counts of second-degree promoting prostitution and attempting to promote prostitution. There were no court files available following up on that case.

Family problems

Love isn’t the only one her family with legal issues. Her son has been arrested numerous times.

Police reports say:

He was arrested Feb. 7, 2015, for use of firearms by a minor. He was in a car with friends when it was pulled over for a traffic violation. The officer spotted drug paraphernalia. A semi-automatic handgun also was seen on the floor. Some in the car said Love’s son threw it into the backseat and said to hide it. “So, not wanting to touch a gun that wasn’t mine I left it sitting where he had thrown it,” someone in the car said.

Love drove by and pleaded with police not to tow her truck, to no avail.

Her son also was arrested June 11, 2010, for minor in possession. Police went to Pinewood Elementary School where he was said to have been drinking and in possession of a knife.

He also was arrested March 17, 2010, for second-degree malicious mischief for tagging a number of trailers at Quil Ceda Recycling. Cost to repaint and repair the damage was $1,200. He reportedly did it as part of the Wreckin’ Crew gang.

“I wish I could take it all back. I’m done with this stuff,” the son wrote in court papers.

He pleaded guilty, was fined and put on probation.

Police papers say on April 5, 2012, Love’s then 14-year-old daughter was left alone. Court papers say Love told police she has two businesses in Seattle and sometimes stays the night there.

The daughter stated her mother sometimes does not come home at night but that she can take care of herself. Police found empty alcohol bottles and beer cans in her room, and Love said it was OK for her to have them. Information was forwarded to Children’s Protective Services, even though Love said she already had a case worker.

Love’s court cases

In Snohomish County District Court, Everett Division, a public records request shows numerous arrests in 2015 and previously on suspicion of drug-related charges against Rainbow love but no formal charges filed as of yet by the county prosecutor’s office.

•Love was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, posted $10,000 bail.

•She was also arrested on suspicion of possession of controlled substance and unlawful use of a building.

•Love was arrested on suspicion of a controlled substance, a felony. She posted $100,000 bail.

•In the fourth case, also for suspicion of a controlled substance, she posted $5,000 bail.

Dates of cases

Aug. 13, 2015: King County Superior Court

April 2, 2015: Snohomish County-Everett Division

March 2, 2015: Snohomish County-Everett Division

Feb. 26, 2015: Snohomish County-Everett Division

Jan. 30, 2015: Snohomish County-Everett Division

Dec. 17, 2014: Marysville Municipal Court

April 30, 2014: Marysville Municipal Court

Oct. 25, 2013: Snohomish County-Everett Division

Nov. 15, 2011: Snohomish County-Cascade Division

April 14, 2011: Marysville Municipal Court

Aug. 28, 2008: Renton Municipal Court

June 9, 2008: Snohomish County-Everett Division

 

 

 

 

BY STEVE POWELL

spowell@marysvilleglobe.com

MARYSVILLE – The main reason alleged drug dealers such as Rainbow Love are not prosecuted is because the court system in Snohomish County is so backed up.

There are so many cases in the court system that prosecutors focus mainly on violent offenders, believing they are the ones society needs to put behind bars first.

Drug dealers and other criminals just have to wait for their day in court.

“There are no charges pending,” Tricia Stemler of the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office said.

She noted that many of Love’s arrests occurred in 2015, so it could be some time before they are looked at because the court system is so far behind.

“It’s not urgent because it’s not violent,” Stemler said.

Repeated attempts to contact Love and her attorney were unsuccessful.

That philosophy frustrates Marysville Police Chief Rick Smith.

He said drugs are plaguing neighborhoods, and that if someone commits a crime, “We expect the rest of the system to do their jobs.”

He said he can’t understand how the felonies can keep stacking up against Love without any prosecution taking place. He knows the courts are backed up, and violent offenders are the first who need to be incarcerated, but when there is a chronic problem something needs to happen.

Smith said in most cases police look for “probable cause” in making an arrest for a crime, while prosecutors look at “beyond a reasonable doubt” and if they can get a conviction.

As a result, ”We’re looking at the higher threshold” to make sure the charges stick, Smith said of cases against Love.

“We have good cases,” he said. “At some point they will look at them and prosecute.”

On Sept. 14 of last year, Deputy Prosecutor Lisa Paul said she will be looking at the crimes again to see if there is enough there to prosecute.

“I am waiting for a few things to occur before I am ready to decide charges on Rainbow Love,” Paul said.

On Oct. 13, she handed the files over to another prosecutor, Tim Geraghty.

On Nov. 25, he said the office would decide on charges by the end of the week.

About a month later he called to say it could still be some time before a decision would be made on charges.

“Vivian Ellis has taken advantage of the system for a number of years, whether it’s prostitution or drugs,” Smith said. “It’s a cancer within our city and society. We will continue to put cases together and send them to the prosecutor.”

Code enforcement

Along with drug arrests, Love also has been cited numerous times for code enforcement violations.

Officer Deryck McLeod said in code enforcement reports that Love has the title of reverend from the International Assembly of Spiritual Healers and Earth Stewards Congregation. She acquired a business license in 2005 as “Relax with Rainbow,” and later changed the business name to “The Light Body Temple,” and “The Mysic Center.” In 2007 it became “Mind and Body Healer” and in 2012 “Whole Earth Studio.” But since Oct. 1, 2014 she reportedly has been doing business without a license.

McLeod said she would be a perfect candidate for Marysville’s new chronic nuisance ordinance, which would allow the city to put her in jail and seize her home.

“That would get the message across” to other code enforcement violators, McLeod said, adding if the city doesn’t prosecute, “We’re part of the problem.”

Of Love, McLeod said the system “will catch up to her two or three years from now.” But if the city doesn’t act before then, “We’re responding not preventing.”

McLeod said Love qualifies as a chronic nuisance because:

•He has been after her for over a year to get a business license, failing to respond, and been cited and sent to collections.

•On May 28, 2014, Love was arrested by Seattle police for being a proprietor in a house of ill repute (reportedly a madam for prostitution), police papers say. She was booked into the King County Jail.

•During a Jan. 29, 2015 drug bust, McLeod noted multiple bags of trash strewn around the residence, creating not only an eyesore for neighbors, but also a health hazard. He noted in a nearby wetland violations of trash and debris, along with trees cut down.

•During a Feb. 25, 2015 drug bust, he noted the situation in the wetland was even worse.

“Based on the three search warrants served within a twelve-month period, two of which were drug related; the wetlands violations; and the unwillingness of her to obtain the required business license I feel that this residence qualifies as a Chronic Nuisance Property,” McLeod says in a report.

He has been at odds with City Attorney Jon Walker on the issue.

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring said Walker looked at using the chronic nuisance policy against Love but decided against it. “We would be looking at a costly court battle if it’s not done right,” Nehring said.

Walker said the justice system has a lot of tools that could be used in cases like Love’s. “We have to analyze everything that’s going on and find out what’s viable,” he said.

Walker said a lot of thought goes into prosecuting cases.

“The prosecutor has to decide, ‘Can I prove this case?’ ” he said.

The mayor said aggressive police action has made a dent in some of Love’s alleged criminal activity. “We’ve taken her down a few times,” he said. “We will do everything we can with the police to execute justice.”